Adolf Hitler Silver Formal Luncheon Knife from The Führerbau, with provenance
A superb silver Luncheon Knife from Adolf Hitler’s personal formal silverware, the chunky handle features an embossed Fuehrer Adler (the Leader’s Eagle) clutching a wreathed Swastika which is flanked by Hitler’s initials ‘A’ & ‘H’. The reverse side of the knife handle has the impressed hallmarks; a crescent moon, the imperial crown, the silver purity mark ‘800′, and the imperial eagle, all found on the little top of handle edge where it joins the blade. There is a fabulous impressed greek-key ‘Meander’ border along all edges of the front and reverse side of the knife handle.
Originally there are believed to have been six complete sets of 500 pieces, 3,000 pieces in total, commissioned by Albert Speer and manufactured by Bruckmann in the ‘formal pattern’ of silver flatware and tableware presented to Hitler on the event of his 50th birthday on 20th April 1939. The formal silverware sets were distributed among the places Hitler frequented the most; the ‘Berghof’ (Hitler’s mountain home), ‘Kehlsteinhaus’ (the Eagle’s Nest), the ‘Gasthaus’ (Guest House) at Obersalzberg, the ‘Braune Haus’ (the ‘Brown House’), the Führerbau in Munich, his ‘Prinzregentenplaz’ apartment in Munich, and the ‘Reichskanzlei’ in Berlin.
The design for the AH Formal silverware is attributed to Adolf Hitler himself adding yet another level of desirable collectability to these pieces!
The knife comes complete with provenance documentation (copy) pertaining to it’s original acquaisition, along with a further 82 pieces of Adolf Hitler silver ware (and other items), by Mr. Baros Wilson of the 48th Combat Engineers, and subsequent sale to Mr. A.W. Wood in 1946. Mr Wilson had obtained the silver from the basement vault underneath the Führerbau in Munich, Germany in 1945.
Condition:
The Luncheon knife displays minor surface marks commensurate with age and use, a beautiful-looking display piece, a rare ‘Hitler’ personal item, complete with provenance, a very desirable and quite superb investment piece.
